Judge: Slaying Defendant Incompetent To Stand Trial

A Man Charged With Fatally Shooting His Ex-girlfriend Will Live At A Mental Hospital Until His Condition Improves.

April 25, 1997|By Susan Jacobson of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — An Orlando man charged with killing his ex-girlfriend and wounding her companion is incompetent to stand trial, a judge has ruled.

Wilfredo Collado, 45, will live at the state mental hospital in Chattahoochee until his condition improves enough for him to face charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder, Circuit Judge Belvin Perry ordered on Wednesday.

Just two days before, Perry said Collado was well enough to proceed. But that night, guards had to restrain Collado and fit him with a helmet because he beat his head against a jail wall.

Perry ordered additional psychiatric examination on Tuesday, the day the trial was scheduled to begin.

Collado is charged in the May 1996 shooting of Caridad Martinez, 31, and Clay Morrison. The two were sitting in Morrison's pickup in Buenaventura Lakes' Ventura Downs shopping center when, prosecutors say, Collado sprayed bullets through the passenger window.

Monday was not the first day that Collado has exhibited odd behavior. Court documents show that during an interview with police after the shootings, he spoke of ripping the skin off someone and eating it. He also told police that he saw lights and ran all night long on the night Martinez was killed.

A psychiatrist said in court papers that Collado would moan, roll around on the floor, wail and talk to imaginary people.

''That may be because he's truly psychotic,'' Dr. Jeffrey Danziger said in a deposition last week. ''It may be because he's malingering. But it may be a very difficult trial if he's going to act in this bizarre fashion for whatever reason.''

Because a jury already had been chosen, Perry Wednesday declared a mistrial. A new jury will be picked if Collado is deemed fit to stand trial.

Collado would face a life sentence in jail if convicted of first-degree murder.

Morrison recovered from gunshot wounds to the torso and head, but Martinez died. Her two children were asleep in the back of the truck during the shooting and now live with her mother in Puerto Rico, authorities said.

Neither prosecutor Dorothy Sedgwick nor defense attorney Mark O'Mara could be reached for comment Thursday. In an earlier interview, O'Mara said he didn't think Collado was competent to be tried.